Buried

Lee Knight and Dick McArthur pause during a spring cleanup of Wellington Cemetery.

Council cuts funding to Wellington cemetery, board kept in the dark

The County may soon find itself with another cemetery to manage. Last week the board of the Wellington cemetery learned their annual request for financial assistance to manage and care for the property was turned down due to budget cuts.

No one called the board to warn them the funding was in jeopardy. No one called to tell them their funding had been cut. It took a phone call to Shire Hall to learn the shocking news.

Since amalgamation the Wellington cemetery has received $8,000 a year from the municipality to help support and maintain the property. It costs about $20,000 each year to maintain the lawns, laneways, fences and other features of the cemetery. It receives funds from the sale of burial plots and other services to offset this cost. As a community facility, however, it receives much more in donated services and material each year that is never recorded on a ledger.

“That is why it looks so good,” said Paul Greer, chair of the Wellington Cemetery board. “It is well cared for by people who live in this community.”

A year ago the cemetery board had built up a small reserve. It was able reduce its request to the municipality to just $4,000 which they received. This year the board asked for $6,000.

“We run a very tight ship,” explained Greer. “Everyone on the board is a businessperson—so we are very careful on how we spend money and how we budget.”

For this reason the board has been able to prune its request to the bare necessity.

Greer was stunned to learn the board’s request had been rejected. It was a frustration made worse by the fact that he wasn’t notified the money wouldn’t be forthcoming—or was even at risk.

“I never thought in a million years they would not give our cemetery the money,” said Greer. “Some on the board want to give the municipality the keys and the map to the cemetery and let them operate it.”

It is a prospect neither Greer nor the municipality want.

In the final days of budget deliberation, Sandy Latchford appealed to council for additional funding for Glenwood Cemetery. Part of her successful pitch was the threat to hand the property back to the municipality.

Recreation, Parks and Culture Commissioner Barry Braun acknowledged that his department could not operate the facility nearly as cost-effectively as the Glenwood Cemetery board. Council agreed to Latchford’s funding request.

Greer will appeal to council this week to reverse its decision and find the $6,000 the board needs to operate the Wellington Cemetery this year. It will be a tough struggle. After a bruising and prolonged budget debate, many council members may be reluctant to reopen it. But neither can council ignore the needs of a community group that is providing a mandatory service at a far lower cost than the municipality could do itself.